Week 43 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
sketchbook : week 43
Tag: creativity
the beacon, the compass, the driving force – my list
Are you a list maker? I work best and most happily when I am diligent about creating thoughtful, daily to do lists. I’m moving multiple, large-ish projects forward at the same time and I would be lost without my list. My list gets me to do things I don’t want to do, things I’m uncomfortable with or intimidated by. One of my current projects is putting together my first kit- paper flamingos. I love creating the instructions but there are tons of other details to work out, details I don’t love dealing with – wholesale suppliers, packaging, printing, assembling and distributing. It is on my list and I chip away at it every day.
The difference in what I accomplish and how much happier the work is when I take the time to carefully and thoughtfully make my list is so remarkable, such a dramatic shift, I’ve spent some time thinking about why. Why beyond the obvious benefits of being more organized, not forgetting things etc. I came up with some reasons and I saved the one I think is most important for last:
* I tailor my lists to my own personal brand of nuttiness – the anxiety and procrastination, indecision and overwhelm I’m so prone to. Tasks I REALLY don’t want to do get assigned small chunks of time – 15 minutes – 30 minutes etc. So much easier to start and to focus when an end is in sight. A surprising amount can be accomplished in 15 truly focused minutes. I use a timer for these sorts of tasks. I mix those short bursts with longer, more open ended work. My day feels designed.
* Breaking things down into time chunks changes my relationship with time – I am conscious of, and accountable for my minutes – less time slips mysteriously away – I push harder and squeeze things in.
* It’s effective even when I screw up. If I’ve over-scheduled myself – it’s easy to see and fix going forward.
* I’m less anxious about what I’m not doing at any given moment – I know it’s planned for – has it’s own focused chunk of time instead of floating around in a vague and oppressive cloud of things that need to be done.
And the biggest benefit:
It can be hard to feel momentum and progress on large or longterm projects and goals. Checking things off on a list is undeniable evidence of progress and a chance to congratulate yourself a little and build momentum. I save my lists and when I’m feeling frustrated or stuck I can look back and see how far I’ve come.
Lists are a way of celebrating and recording little successes – and that is terribly important in accomplishing big things.
P. S. If you would like an email notification when the flamingo kit is ready to go you can sign up here.
sketchbook : week 42
Week 42 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
my big creative year : youness
“No one is youer than you.” – Dr. Seuss
So lovely and simple and true. A perfect message for a child or grownup. And the idea that is at the heart of all that is creative.
I think the youness is worth exploring deeply and sharing as fully as possible. The world only has one chance at what’s in there – one chance at you. I think it’s worth time, energy, embarrassment, failure and disappointment to work your way through to the deepest, most truly creative work you can do – the youest – the work of your utterly unique, snowflake of an imagination.
My Big Creative Year moved me closer to that work, closer to my youness. Some of the things that helped:
Showing up – whether I wanted to or not.
Failing and starting again, and again and again….
Intention – making experimenting a priority – making room for it.
Learning more about how I work (one of the benefits of working) – following my energy.
Listening carefully for the magic – I do believe it is there- waiting to be noticed…. Listening is part of the work and that kind of listening takes practice and patience and the afore mentioned showing up.
I got more tuned in to recognizing where I stumble – I see more clearly what is in the way, what trips me – again and again – this continues to be my biggest sticking point.
And what’s ahead for 2016:
Blog-wise nothing programmed – except the sketchbook – I need to freestyle for a while- post as the spirit moves me. And work-wise – I have a lot of ideas for the coming year – new patterns and for the first time kits! are on the horizon. Also, Some projects came to me at the end of 2015 that hit me right in my youness – work I’ve been enjoying immensely – I’ll share some of that soon.
And for you, for 2016, I hope you’ll continue to visit here – I am grateful that you do. I wish you a happy, healthy and creative year. I wish you a year of magnificent youness.
sketchbook : week 41
Week 41 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
sketchbook : week 40
Week 40 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
sketchbook : week 39
Week 39 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
my big creative year : can does not equal should
This has always been a sticky spot for me. I make myself very busy with work I CAN do without carefully considering if it is work I SHOULD do, work only I can do, work I am meant to do. A yes to one thing is a stealthy no to something else. A lot of my efforts this year have been around making those choices more carefully or at least more consciously and treating time like the precious resource it is.
I first came across Elizabeth Gilbert through her Ted Talk on Creativity and just lately put her new book Big Magic on my list (have your read it? I’d love to hear what you thought). And there is a companion podcast series to the book – Magic Lessons. You know I love a good podcast and I listened to all 12 episodes during a marathon sewing session. I love the way she talks about ideas, inspiration:
“Inspiration is looking for you, it’s waiting for you patiently while you’re making your mistakes, making the things that must be made on the way to what it has for you, it is a collaboration and a synergy…”
The podcast is a series of interviews with other authors and artists and conversations with women trying to move past fear, procrastination, guilt and busyness into their most truly creative work – their big magic.
Find the podcast – Magic Lessons – here:
sketchbook : week 38
Week 38 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
sketchbook : week 37
Week 37 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
my big creative year : good ideas
Sometimes ideas are like mosquitos – whispers that won’t leave you alone. Sometimes they are slippery and hard to grasp. Sometimes they’re chaotic, tumbling over each other. Sometimes they are lurking in the shadows, maddeningly half revealed and sometimes they are frightening – too big to hold.
Whether they are big or little, scary, silly, sad, strange, embarrassing or brilliant they are in unlimited supply. You can’t run out.
And this is also true:
“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”
Linus Pauling
Lots.
And I would add this – have lots of ideas and write them down, record them, scribble them, sketch them – as soon as they show up.
Volume matters not because you’re bound to get lucky eventually but because asking your brain to generate lots of ideas keeps the wheels turning and the machinery well oiled. It makes you ask the second question and the third and the fourth etc. etc. that will lead you to new places, lead you deeper into your imagination and your magic.
sketchbook : week 36
Week 36 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
